57

MORMON BEGINNINGS IN SAMOA: KIMO BELIO, SAMUELA MANOA AND

WALTER MURRAY GIBSON

by Spencer McBride

Imprisoned in a Dutch prison in Malaysia, the young American adventurer Walter

Murray Gibson claimed to have received a profound revelation. He writes, “While I lay in a

dungeon in the island of Java, a voice said to me, ‘You shall show the way to a people, who

shall build up a kingdom in these isles, whose lines of power shall run around the earth.’ My

purposes of life were changed from that hour.”1 This, he felt, was confirmation of his

previously imbedded ideas that he was indeed destined to create and lead an empire in the

islands of the Pacific Ocean. When Gibson’s path crossed those of Kimo Belio, Samuela

Manoa and the Mormon Church in Hawaii and Samoa, the results of his imperial mindset

would have a significant effect.

The arrival of the first “Mormon” missionaries in Samoa, and their 25 year stay in

those islands without correspondence or assistance from the church’s headquarters, is a

fascinating account worthy of being related in the most complete form possible. The calling

of two native Hawaiians to serve such a mission helps to uncover the motivations of the

politically ambitious man who had entwined his aspirations for empire with the building

up of the Mormon Church. The unauthorized dispatch of Kimo Belio a Manoa to Samoa by

Walter Murray Gibson was an attempt to further his own political aspirations by spreading

the Mormon faith in the Pacific. However, the resulting missionary service of Belio and

Manoa failed to grant Gibson greater political influence, but did successfully lay the

foundation of a lasting Mormon presence in Samoa.

The chain of events leading to Samuela Manoa and Kimo Belio’s [alt. Pelio] mission

to Samoa has its beginning in 1850 as the first Mormon missionaries reached the Sandwich

Islands. At this time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a limited presence

in the Pacific Islands, but in December of 1850, ten elders of the church arrived in Honolulu

to open the Sandwich Island Mission. The group, presided over by Hiram Clark and

including George Q. Cannon, arrived with the intent to preach to and convert the white

settlers living on the islands. However, they soon found the task to be far more difficult

than anticipated in that the population of white settlers was smaller than expected and

there was very little religious interest among them. Describing the situation, Cannon wrote,

“We soon became satisfied that if we confined our labors to the whites, our mission to

those islands would be a short one.”2 Thus, the focus of the ten Mormon elders shifted from

1 Gibson to Brigham Young, May 30, 1859, Gibson Name File, Church Historians Office, Salt Lake City. 2 George Q. Cannon, My First Mission, (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882), 22.

58

the whites to the native Hawaiians requiring them to learn the language and the culture of

the people.

The work was slow and success virtually non-existent at first for the elders, leading

to severe feelings of discouragement among several members of the party. Half of the

contingent, including Clark, opted to leave their ministry and return home, leaving only five

of the original ten missionaries.3 They worked diligently to master the difficult Hawaiian

language and soon began preaching to the natives. The church sent several missionaries to

the islands in 1852 to take the place of the departed brethren and the work soon began to

prosper as evidenced by 50 organized branches of the church at the time of Cannon’s

departure in 1854.4

The most proficient among the elders in learning the language was Elder Cannon,

who within a few months was conversing fluently with the native people.5 Previous to the

departure of five of his brethren, Cannon had been assigned to labor on Maui, where he

returned and remained for much of his mission. It was on this island that he met Kimo Belio

and Samuela Manoa.

Belio was a resident of Wailuku, Maui when the first ten Mormon missionaries

arrived in 1850. Once the decision was made to preach their doctrine to the natives, Elder

Cannon returned to his ministry on Maui, spending a large amount of time in the village of

Wailuku. It has been stated in some accounts that Manoa and Belio were taught, baptized

and ordained elders by Cannon in that village.6 There are no records found confirming this,

but because Cannon’s labors in that area were extensive and Belio and Manoa were living

in that place at that time, the claim of Cannon introducing them to the faith ought not to be

dismissed. Elder Cannon arrived in December 1850 and made his first converts in Wailuku

in the latter part of 1851.7 Thus, one can estimate that if Cannon was the missionary that

baptized Manoa and Belio, then they were baptized and confirmed members of the Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were ordained elders between 1852 and 1854; at

which time Cannon returned to Utah at the close of his mission.

However, in examining the family life of Kimo Belio, evidence suggests his entrance

into the Mormon Church came by way of a different missionary at a later time. Belio

married a woman named Kaolelohou and resided with her in Wailuku. On 25 December

3 R. Lanier Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific, (Salt Lake: Deseret

Book), 98-99. 4 Britsch, 107 and 110. 5 Cannon, Letter, Wailuku, Maui, S.I., March 1, 1852, in “Intelligence from the Sandwich Islands,” Millennial Star,

14 (October 26, 1852), 555. 6R. Carl Harris, The Expanded Samoan Mission History 1888-1988, Centennial Edition, June 1988, Joseph F. Smith

Library, BYU-Hawaii, 1. 7 Britsch, 101.

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1858, Kimo and Kaolelohou Belio had their first son, Alamakamika.8 Almakamika translates

into English as “Alma Smith.” Alma L. Smith served three missions in the Sandwich Islands,

the first of which was from 1856-1858. The naming of his first son after Smith is convincing

evidence that he was a greatly influential missionary in Belio’s life and likely the one that

baptized him. 9 The naming of children to honor others is a common practice found in

several cultures throughout the world and in this case it provides insight to the influence

the church had on Belio and his family. It is unknown exactly when, but Belio and his family

left their home in Maui and joined fellow church members in establishing the “City of

Joseph” in the Palawai valley, where they could to gather together and practice their

religion without the criticism and persecution that had been coming from the government

and other Christian sects.

Samuela Manoa, according to an account aging him at 27 years when called on a

mission to Samoa10, was a young adult at the time of his baptism. Manoa moved to Lanai

along with many other church members and settled with them in the Palawai valley.

To understand the unusual event that was Belio and Manoa’s mission call, one must

understand the man that issued the call to them, namely Walter Murray Gibson. Born in

England, raised in Canada, married and widowed at a young age in South Carolina, Gibson

fancied himself as an explorer destined for political power and greatness. He specifically

dreamed of Malaysia and a vast empire consisting of all the Pacific islands. A few years after

an attempt to begin his political empire in Malaysia was stopped before it could even

commence by the Dutch colonial authorities, Gibson joined the Mormon Church, his

baptism occurring in Salt Lake City on 15 January 1860 by Heber C. Kimball.11 Though his

initial motives for joining with the Mormons were likely pure, it is clearly evident in his

actions that soon followed that Gibson lacked the capacity to separate his spiritual pursuits

from his political ambitions and the Mormon Church became a vehicle by which his Pacific

empire could come to pass.

Even before his baptism, he attempted to persuade Brigham Young to bring the

saints to the Pacific Islands, specifically naming Malaysia and Papua New Guinea as

possibilities.12 In a letter written to Young and sent from St. Louis to precede his arrival,

Gibson refers to the aforementioned revelation he claimed to receive while imprisoned by

the Dutch in which he was told he would “show the way to a people, who shall build up a

8 http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp, accessed 21 Feb.

2006. 9 Andrew Jenson, Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson Memorial

Association 1936), 341. 10 Harris, Building the Kingdom in Samoa (Heber City, Utah: Harris Video Cases, Inc., 2006), 27 11 Jacob Adler, The Fantastic Life of Walter Murray Gibson, (Honolulu: UH Press 1986), 45-46. 12 Gibson to Brigham Young, May 30, 1859, Gibson Name File, Church Historians Office, Salt Lake City.

60

Kingdom in these isles” and he tells Young that “it has been in [his] heart…to propose to

you and your people, emigration to the islands of Oceania.”13

His ideas were heard, but there is no evidence that they were ever considered

realistic possibilities by church leaders. Nevertheless, Gibson was respected by Young and

fulfilled a mission, serving for a brief time in the Eastern United States. Upon his return to

Utah, all the Elders that had been serving abroad had been brought back to Utah with the

threat of war that came with the arrival of Johnston’s army. His presence in Utah was not

viewed as a necessity and he was sent on another mission. On this occasion he was sent

into the Pacific with a charge to deliver official messages of good will to the government

officials of far eastern nations. He departed with three official documents from Brigham

Young and other church officers, adorned with ribbons and seals to verify authenticity. One

was intended for the potentates of Malaysia, another for the Japanese Emperor and a third

serving as a letter verifying Gibson’s commission to preach the gospel as a missionary.14 He

was instructed by Young to check in on the church members in the Sandwich Islands while

en route to these other destinations. Gibson began his journey from Salt Lake City to the

islands of the Pacific that had for so many years been present in his dreams and among his

thoughts on 21 November 1860 and awaited passage to the Sandwich Islands in San

Francisco from December until 15 June 1861.15

His stay in San Francisco while awaiting passage to the Sandwich Islands presents

early evidence of Gibson’s political ambitions taking precedence over his church

responsibilities. With his reputation as a lecturer of Malaysia known to several of the cities

residents, he was prevailed upon to present the subject in lectures open to the public. His

lectures caught the attention of local government authorities potentially interested in

economic ventures in the region spoken of by Gibson and he accepted an invitation to

address the state legislature on the matter.16 His lecture led to a motion to send a

commissioner to Malaya to open up trade with the state, a post for which Gibson was the

likely candidate. However, the motion failed to receive enough votes in the affirmative and

the idea was dropped, much to Gibson’s dismay, who felt the motion’s defeat was due to

“anti-Mormon prejudices.”17 Important glimpses of Gibson’s character in relation to his

spiritual professions and political ambitions are displayed in this incident. Gibson seemed

to be more than willing to lay his commission as a missionary aside had he been appointed

a commissioner in the California state government. This is not to suggest that he was not

sincere in his professions of religious faith, but rather demonstrates his ultimate

13 Ibid. 14 Adler, 49-50. 15 Ibid. 53. 16 Ibid. 51. 17 Ibid.

61

motivation of fulfilling his dream of gaining great political power and influence in the

Pacific.

Eventually he left San Francisco, with plans of traveling to the Sandwich Islands on

his way to Japan and Malaya. When touring the islands in order to accurately report the

condition of the church and its members to Young, he discovered a decline in the activity

and number of the native membership.18 Despite the declining status of the church on the

islands, Gibson was greatly attracted to the place and decided upon remaining there and

foregoing the trip to Japan and Malaya. It is at this point that Gibson’s actions became

influential on Manoa and Belio. He did not present himself to the church members as

merely a missionary, but showed the Hawaiian saints his fancily adorned letters and

certificates (which the natives did not know were intended for heads of state elsewhere)

and claimed he had been sent by Young to be the president of the church in the Sandwich

Islands.

The façade developed further, and soon the members were told by Gibson that the

church in Utah had been destroyed by the US Army, which was generally believed in

connection with the knowledge that the American elders had left them three years prior

due to the approach of an army.19 He then took it upon himself to ordain native brethren to

priesthood offices for substantial fees. These offices included apostle, seventy, bishop, and

“priestesses of temples.”20 The last on the list was non-existent in the Mormon Church and

the first three listed were positions only appointed by the governing body of the church,

the First Presidency.

His desires for political power and empire in the Pacific also began to come forth.

The natives that followed him to Lanai not only worked under his direction to build the

“City of Joseph” in the Palawai Basin, but were drilled by Gibson in military formations and

tactics. He had taken his call as a missionary farther than his commission allowed, and

further than any in Salt Lake City could have possibly realized at that time.

As stated previously, evidence leads one to believe that Samuela Manoa and Kimo

Belio moved to Lanai under Gibson’s leadership in 1861-62 with some 185 others.21

Though his actions seemed somewhat irregular in comparison to the missionaries that had

first established the Mormon faith in the islands, one might assume that the Hawaiian

brethren were untrained enough in procedures of church government and leadership due

18 A summary of Gibson’s reports to Young is given in Adler, The Fantastic Life of Walter Murray Gibson, 57, and

is taken from letters from Gibson to Young dated July 10, 14, 16 and Sept. 2, 1861, and are found in the Gibson

Name File, Church Historians Office, Salt Lake City. 19 Harris, Samoa Apia Mission History 1888-1983 (Apia: Samoa Printing and Publishing Co, 1983), 1. 20 Joseph F. Smith to George Q. Cannon, May 4, 1864, as quoted in Britsch, 122-123. 21 Raymond Clyde Beck, “Palawai Basin: Hawaii’s Mormon Zion,” M.A. Thesis, University of Hawaii, 1972, 87.

This number is based on adult members of the church and does not include children.

62

to the church having only existed on the islands for less than a decade that they followed

Gibson as an ecclesiastical leader, dismissing these irregularities. Thus, when Gibson

offered apostleship to Belio and the office of Seventy to Manoa, the two native brethren

accepted and paid the fee.22

Gibson, having taken upon himself the role of ecclesiastical leader of all the

Mormons in Hawaii, soon assumed the role of royalty. Such self-views are found in his

journal entries at that time in which he states, “The people are poor; in pocket, in brain, in

everything. They are material for a very little kingdom…But they are thorough…They bring

a chicken or some yams to make up for their deficiencies in courtesy in approaching me. It

is a little kingdom of love and worship.”23 The first few lines of the statement reveal that

the “worship” he is referring to is of him. It can be said that he was attempting to convert

the native Hawaiians to “Gibsonism” more than Mormonism. These notions of royalty

continued as he trained and drilled the men he had organized into military companies in

military tactics.

Yet another statement made by Gibson that assists in revealing his true motives for

playing the role of church president in Hawaii came in a letter to Brigham Young in January

of 1862.

“…it is the desire of my heart to establish a centre stake for all the Oceanicans. The

Hawaiians rejoice in the idea…I rejoice in the hope that the fruits of my labour here

will enable me to push on next season to Japan, or Malaysia in company with a few

intelligent Hawaiian Saints. They will be invaluable aids in advancing the gospel in

Oceanica.”24

Though not speaking in terms of political empire, the way he conducted himself as a

religious leader implies that he desired to be more than an ecclesiastical leader in the

regions his Hawaiian subjects were sent. He was likely entertaining these kinds of thoughts

a month before writing to Young when he sent native Hawaiians on missions. In a letter to

George A. Smith of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, he made mention of “Some brethren,

who were sent out to the Navigator Islands [Samoa], and to Central Polynesia, have sent me

very interesting accounts of their mission.”25

Those brethren were Kimo Belio and Samuela Manoa. On 17 December 1862 the call

was extended to Belio and Manoa to depart on a mission to the Navigator Islands (Samoa), 22 Britsch, 350. 23 Gibson Diary, Nov. 5, 1861, Historical File, folder 48, Hawaii State Archives. 24 Gibson to Young, Jan. 16, 1862 Gibson Name File 25 Gibson to George A. Smith, March 13, 1864, Gibson Name File

63

even though he had no authorization from church leaders to direct missionary labors.26 The

two brethren appear to have shown no hesitation in accepting and acting upon this call, as

evidenced by their departure to Samoa from Honolulu aboard the whaling vessel

Massachusetts on 23 December, allowing only 6 days to travel to this port on the south

shore of O’ahu from the Palawai basin of Lanai. The voyage lasted 31 days, with the ship

arriving at the island of Aunu’u on 24 January 1863. 27

The first task at hand was for the two native Hawaiians to learn the Samoan

language, which appears not to have taken too long and the work commenced. The pair

labored briefly on Aunu’u baptizing one person, before moving to Tutuila, which became

the place of their residence as missionaries and the main focus of their labors.

The political and religious conditions of Samoa at the time were already strongly

influenced by a noticeable western presence. At the time of Belio and Manoa’s arrival,

Samoa was witnessing an increase in the number and influence of foreigners, especially

British, Germans, and Americans. Mission leaders of the Protestant sects as well as other

European settlers “felt that it was essential to establish a central government which could

make laws and conduct courts” in place of the traditional Samoan way of governing

themselves by the Matai over each village and district.28 European imperialism had already

led to centralized governments throughout much of Polynesia. However, the establishment

of a centralized monarchy did not come easily for Samoa. A local leader named Malietoa

Laupepa attempted to place himself over a confederacy of districts and was challenged by

another local leader named Malietoa Talavou. The division led to civil war in 186929 (six

years after the arrival of Manoa and Belio). On top of this, the British, Germans and

Americans began to strongly consider the colonization of the Samoan Islands amid the

conflict and disorder.30 Needless to say, Belio and Manoa entered a Samoa whose political

situation was anything but stable as its system of government experienced numerous

changes.

Manoa and Belio arrived in Samoa at a time when the islands were not only

changing politically, but religiously as well. Christian missionaries had first arrived in

Samoa in 1832 from the London Missionary Society (LMS), an arrival that was anticipated

by the Samoans from what they heard from neighboring Polynesian nations like Tonga that

began to embrace Christianity several years before it came to Samoa. This first group was

protestant, associated themselves with the Congregationalist church (called “Lotu Ta’iti” by

26Joseph Dean, “Sketches From the Samoan Islands” The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 24 No. 2 (15 January 1889), 6.

This article appeared serially in no. 2, 17 and 18 of the same volume. Hereafter, notes will read as Dean, issue

number, page number. 27 Harris, The Expanded Samoan Mission History, 1. 28Malama Meleisea, Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa, (Suva: University of the South Pacific, 1987), 77. 29 Ibid. 78. 30 Ibid. 79

64

the Samoans), and was led by John Williams.31 In that same year, the Methodist sect (Lotu

Toga) arrived in Samoa from Tonga under the direction of Peter Turner at the request of

several Samoans and against an informal agreement between the two churches that had

reserved Samoa for the LMS. 32 The third Christian sect to arrive was the Catholics (Lotu

Pope) who established a Samoan mission in 1845.33 Despite the difficulty the sect faced in

obtaining a membership while in competition with the Methodists and Congregationalists,

when Belio and Manoa introduced the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Lotu

Mamona) to the islands in 1863, the Catholic church was firmly established along with the

two Protestant sects that had preceded it. Thus, Manoa and Belio arrived in Samoa

experiencing similar political and religious changes as those in Hawaii upon the arrival of

Cannon and his party of missionaries in 1850; the government was being influenced and

centralized by westerners and the Samoans had already been exposed to Christianity for

nearly 30 years. In 1863, Samoa and its people could be considered Christians with the

beginnings of a “western style” central government.

In all, Belio and Manoa baptized between 50-60 individuals, most of who were

converted in the first three years of their missionary labors.34 After the first few years of

devoting their time to missionary work, they received word from Hawaii of Gibson’s

exposure as a fraud and his subsequent excommunication from the church. This must have

been received as a shock, and possibly a sign that no new elders would arrive until the

church was reorganized and strengthened in the Hawaiian Islands. This is suggested in an

account stating that they “discontinued the missionary work and began making money.”35

On November 24 1868, Manoa married a Samoan woman named Faasopo36 and the two

missionaries became more and more settled in Samoa. Manoa and Belio turned to trading

copra, an endeavor in which they appear to have been quite successful as attested by a

description of Manoa’s financial status and living condition upon the arrival of Dean. Dean

states that “He has done considerable trading in copra and made a good deal of money. He

has a nice lumber house the material of which cost $1,200.”37

Though they were not actively seeking new converts after hearing word of Gibson’s

downfall, Belio and Manoa kept the congregation together and continued to meet and

worship together. Much credit, however, is due to Belio. On 30 September 1869, Manoa

was excommunicated for committing adultery by a council assembled by Belio.38 The latter

31 Meleisea, 54-56. 32 Ibid. 60. 33 Ibid. 62. 34 Dean, No. 2, 6. 35 Ibid. 36 Harris, The Expanded Samoan Mission History 1888-1988, 2, for the marriage date and Dean, The Juvenile

Instructor Vol. 24 No. 18 (15 September 1889) 18 for the name of Manoa’s wife. 37 Dean, No. 17, 18. 38 Harris, The Expanded Mission History, 8.

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was then left to lead the church alone, a task he took upon himself until his death on 3 June

1876, at the age of 64.39

The small group of Samoans that considered themselves Mormon was not left

without a leader. Manoa had repented of his transgression and had written to the church in

Laie, Hawaii to receive permission to be baptized again and readmitted as a church

member. Coincidentally, permission was received the day after Belio’s death and Manoa

was baptized by a church member and the principle chief of Aunuu, Miomio Lemafa on 4

June 1876.40

During the time following news of Gibson’s dismissal and prior to Belio’s death, the

two Hawaiian elders wrote frequently to friends and church leaders in Hawaii, reporting

their progress, inquiring after the state of the church in Hawaii, and requesting more elders

to be sent to assist them in their labors.41 The mail system between Hawaii and Samoa was

somewhat unreliable. Letters would be sent aboard ships traveling between New Zealand

and Hawaii. The ships would not enter any ports in Samoa, but would make stop at a spot

nearly a mile off the shore of the island of Tutuila, where it would be met by a schooner

sent from the shore so enabling the passengers, letters and other cargo traveling to Samoa

to make it to their destination. If the winds were especially strong, or the seas excessively

rough, no stop would be made, Samoa would be bypassed and the passengers and mail still

aboard would remain aboard until the ship arrived in New Zealand.42 The unreliable mail

system is part of the reason information of Gibson’s excommunication was delayed, and

also provides a partial explanation of why many letters to and from Manoa and Belio were

never replied to or even received.

Despite the lack of a reliable postal system, many letters were received by the

people to whom they were addressed, records of which have survived. On 12 October 1872,

Harvey E. Cluff wrote to the Deseret News (published in Utah) from Laie, Hawaii to report

progress made in the Sandwich Islands Mission, as was the common practice of

missionaries serving abroad at that time. He writes, “We learned from a communication to

Brother Nebeker from the Samoan or Navigator Islands that the two Hawaiian brethren

who were sent from here (Hawaii) nine or ten years ago are doing a good work among the

people there in Samoa. They have raised up churches, built meeting houses and they now

number upwards of 200 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”43 This

letter obviously reports a higher number of converts than it had in any other source and

39 Dean, No. 2, 6. 40 Harris, Building the Kingdom in Samoa, 6 for information on the rebaptism of Manoa and Dean, No. 18, 18 for

the chiefly status of Lemafa. 41 Dean, No. 2, 6. 42 Ibid. 43 Harvey Cluff quoted in Harris, Expanded Samoan Mission History, 8.

66

can be deemed as likely inaccurate on this basis, but the exact number of converts remains

unknown.

Another similar report was made in the same newspaper the following year, this

time by the President of the Hawaiian Mission, George Nebeker. His letter under the date of

19 August 1872 reads:

We received the other day a letter from our native brethren, who are on the

Navigator Islands. They speak of the Church there being alive, and are very anxious

to hear from their brethren in Zion, as they have heard that there is a great deal of

trouble there. There is as yet no mail carried to those islands, and it makes it

difficult to correspond with them.44

Thus, from these two letters to church leaders in Hawaii, we learn of the growth of the

church under the direction of the two Hawaiians.

The question naturally posed is why the church did not send other missionaries to

Samoa to help Manoa and Belio. Other historians telling this tale as a preface to larger

histories of the Mormons in Samoa have suggested that the church was honestly ignorant

of their being there.45 However, there is ample evidence to show that this was not the case.

The letters from George Nebeker and Harvey Cluff regarding the missionary pair’s

presence in Samoa were written to the Deseret News, which was a Utah-based publication.

In addition to these, Gibson, in another letter previously quoted, told George A. Smith of the

Council of the Twelve Apostles that he had dispatched missionaries to Samoa. The church

was most likely aware of their being in Samoa, but is impossible to know why no one was

sent to aid Belio and Manoa before Joseph Dean arrived in 1888. Speculation with no

factual basis brings one no closer to an answer in this regard.

As with missionary labors of all sects and creed, not all that are converted stay

converted, and this was certainly the case with the congregation of Mormons in Samoa.

According to Manoa, many passed away while others returned to their former

denominations. It is likely that there were some who left after Belio’s death in 1876, he

having been the strong and faithful leader that held the group together during Manoa’s

absence. In a letter written while on a mission to Samoa in 1893, Elder Wood, a man well

acquainted with Manoa, describes the condition of the church members that were baptized

by these two Hawaiian missionaries. Describing a period of time not long after Belio’s

death, Wood writes that “By this time Manoa had almost become a Samoan himself, and the

44 George Nebeker, “Correspondence,” Deseret News, Vol. 21 No. 34 (25 September, 1872) 10. 45 Britsch, 350.

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old church members said they would no more believe his promises, and that there was no

church called ‘Mamona’ (Mormon).”46 This statement describing why many of the Samoans

that Belio and Manoa baptized returned to their former denominations reveals that in

addition to their teaching of gospel principles, the two Hawaiian missionaries promised the

Samoans the arrival of more Elders, specifically white or papalagi Elders, to further

establish the church in those islands.47 Having no reason to think otherwise, Belio and

Manoa were clearly under the impression that their missions would soon be followed by

others, and that they would be assisted in their labors. After years of waiting, the last few

church members left the faith and returned to their former religious practices.

After a serious injury sustained by Manoa deemed him unable to resume work as a

missionary, he devoted himself to the copra trade in which he had become involved in

some time after learning of Gibson’s deceitful activities and excommunication from the

church. Joseph Dean, a missionary serving his second mission in Hawaii, in speaking to a

local merchant who had traveled to and spent a considerable amount of time in Samoa

learned that “Manoa, our Hawaiian that was sent there in 1862 is quite well to do and is

considered to be a Mormon.”48

In 1887, Manoa was hired to pilot a ship into the harbor at Pago Pago. In the course

of things, he was invited below deck to eat breakfast with the ship’s captain and while

crumpling newspapers to build a fire he came across an article mentioning church

president John Taylor. It became evident to Manoa that Gibson’s claims of the church’s end

in Utah were false and proceeded to write a letter to Taylor requesting assistance. The

request was forwarded to Hawaii from where Joseph Dean would be dispatched to officially

open the Mormon mission in Samoa.49

Dean had developed an interest in Samoa after learning of Manoa and Belio’s

mission there from local members with which the two Hawaiian elders maintained

occasional contact. After corresponding with Manoa by mail to inquire after the land’s

potential to become a prosperous location for missionary labors, Dean was officially sent to

Samoa and left Hawaii on 10 June, 1888. He arrived in Samoa on 18 June on the island of

Tutuila.50

46 Edward Wood, “My Samoan Experience,” Juvenile Instructor Vol. 28 No. 7 (1 April 1893) 9-11. 47 Ibid. 48 Dean, Journal Entry, 25 October, 1887, quoted in Harris, Building the Kingdom in Samoa, 8. 49 Harris, 9. 50 Dean, No. 2, 7.

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Joseph and Florence Dean and their children, 1889

(Courtesy Building the Kingdom in Samoa)

Manoa proved to be a valuable assistant to the newly arrived mission president. He served

as a translator for Dean until he obtained a sufficient understanding of the Samoan

language. Records also indicate that Manoa was often called on to pray and speak in

meetings and often served as a guide and traveling companion to Dean and others51,

though in this last capacity he was somewhat limited from his accident several years prior.

Manoa remained actively involved in building the Mormon Church in Samoa for the

remainder of his life.

Though all 50 or 60 Samoans baptized by the two “Gibson-sent” Hawaiian

missionaries had either died or returned to their former churches, Manoa and Belio did

prove extremely successful in laying a foundation for a much stronger presence in Samoa.

More missionaries were subsequently called to the islands and the work expanded to the

entire island chain from Tutuila and Aunuu.

51 Dean, No. 18, 17-19.

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Congregation in Apia, Samoa circa 1900

(Courtesy of Building the Kingdom in Samoa)

The growth of the church in Samoa can be attributed to the first two missionaries for a

couple of reasons. First, correspondence after the arrival of Dean and the official

establishment of a Samoan Mission reveals that “it wasn’t long before a number of those

who had believed in the principles once taught by Belio and Manoa applied for baptism.”52

The number of people belonging to this group is unknown, but it likely consisted of many

who had lost faith in Manoa’s promise of more missionaries. It certainly did include the

aforementioned principle chief of Aunuu, Lemafa, as well as a man named Ifopo that would

greatly assist in the work after rejoining the church. Thus the missionaries under Dean’s

direction were able to find success more quickly because of the labors of Manoa and Belio

during the preceding 25 years.

In addition to the return of previous church members, the foundation of a strong

Mormon presence in Samoa also resulted from the efforts of Belio and Manoa due to the

fact that many who they baptized on Tutuila and Aunuu had homes and family on the island

of Upolu. Through their interaction, teachings of the newly arrived ‘Lotu Mamona’ became

known in that place and provided for greater ease in teaching the people there when

52 Wood, 10.

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Mormon missionaries finally arrived.53 It is also recorded by a former church historian,

Andrew Jenson, that Belio had some interaction and success with the people on Upolu in

Apia, baptizing several in that place.54 That report contains an extra sense of reliability

because Jenson met with Manoa in 1895 to acquire details from the journal kept by Manoa

during his missionary years.55 Sadly, this journal has not been located, but it certainly

would provide a treasure trove of information and enlightenment regarding the subject at

hand. Though it seems clear that the two Hawaiians were sent by Gibson to spread the

Mormon faith primarily to further his political influence, the activity of missionaries after

the official opening of the Samoan mission reveals that they had been successful in

spreading it with great religious, and not political, consequences.

At this point in the account of the unauthorized, yet significant and sincere service of

Belio and Manoa as Mormon missionaries, the attention again turns to the mission’s origin,

Walter Murray Gibson. After his excommunication from the church, he retained the lands

on Lanai and soon thereafter began editing a newspaper and threw himself into the

political circles of the Hawaiian Islands.

Walter Murray Gibson at the height of his political power

(Courtesy Hawaii State Archives)

53 Harris, Building the Kingdom in Samoa, 6. 54 Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church, (Salt Lake City: Deseret news Publishing 1941), 765. 55 Jenson, The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1938) 264.

71

That Gibson’s interest in sending Hawaiians to Samoa was backed by political

aspirations is made extremely clear by his actions a little over 20 years after his departure

from the Mormon faith. In the late 1880s, Gibson was appointed Prime Minister in King

Kalakaua’s cabinet and the two created an ambitious foreign policy that was labeled

“Primacy in the Pacific.” It included the kingdom of Hawaii corresponding with western

nations regarding Pacific Islanders and their continued independence from foreign rule. It

also included the creation of Gibson’s longed dreamed of Pacific Empire with the nations of

Polynesia united as one.56 A telling quote to this end came from Gibson in an editorial in

which he states, “The Hawaiian State is in all respects fit to take upon itself the

responsibilities of an advisor, a referee, or a mediator in the affairs of the weaker but still

independent divisions of the Polynesian race.”57 Gibson’s motives were as clear at this

point in his history as they had ever been before and it was at this point that he attempted

one last time to bring his empire together by sending men to Samoa.

In 1887, acting as Secretary of the Navy, Gibson purchased an older British ship

once used for trade and refitted it with six small cannon and two Gatling guns. Naming the

ship the Kaimiloa, he put it under the command of a retired member of the British navy

named George Jackson and sent a detachment of the King’s Guard to serve as marines. He

then ordered the warship to travel to Samoa under the Hawaiian flag with the purpose of

strengthening relationships and eventually creating an alliance with the Samoan

government. It arrived at Apia’s harbor 15 June, 1887.58 According to Gibson’s diary, the

crew was also “to take possession of Necker Is. and other small islands by and by.”59

This plan failed miserably as German suspicion of the “homemade battleship” led to

the Kaimiloa being followed by German warships and the drunken and disorderly conduct

of the Captain and crew embarrassing the Hawaiian government more than assisting it in

its attempts at diplomacy. The ship was recalled and Gibson’s plans of a Pacific Empire

were finished.60

The timing of this incident bears coincidental significance to the tale of Manoa and

Belio. It was around this same time that Manoa was writing the church in both Salt Lake

City and Laie, Hawaii requesting assistance. The boldest of Gibson’s attempt to fulfill his

political ambitions of a Pacific Empire under his command came as one of his earliest

actions in this regard came to its close.

56 Johnathan Osorio, Dismembering Lahui, (Honolulu: UH Press, 2002), 229-230. 57 Gibson, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 3 December 1881. 58 Adler, Jacob. The Fantastic Life of Walter Murray Gibson, 179-180 59 Gibson, Journal, 11 May 1887, Jacob Adler and Gwynn Barret, The Diaries of Walter Murray Gibson 1886-1887,

(Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press 1973), 150. 60 Ibid. p. 180

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Though Manoa and Belio were sent to Samoa as missionaries for the Mormons, it is

clear by his actions that Gibson hoped they would also become ambassadors for him and

his ideas of political unity in a pacific empire. He clearly realized that increasing his

political influence was directly tied to the spread of the Mormon Church in the Pacific. But

his subsequent excommunication foiled the plot and his failed attempts at uniting Samoa

and Hawaii as a government official left him without the Pacific Empire of which he had

dreamt his entire life.

In regards of the success these two Hawaiians had in building the membership of

the church for which they labored, regardless of the unauthorized nature of their call, the

foundation they laid for the official establishment and growth of the church in Samoa is

primarily displayed in events occurring after the arrival of Dean in 1888. The church grew

more rapidly and with greater ease because of their service between 1863 and 1888.

Thus, having knowingly been sent to Samoa as “ambassadors for Mormonism” and

unknowingly as “ambassadors for ‘Gibsonism,’” Samuela Manoa and Kimo Belio’s

missionary service in Samoa only fulfilled the former purpose as they laid the foundation

for a lasting and growing Mormon presence in those islands.

Bibliography

Published Works

Adler, Jacob and Kamins, Robert M. The Fantastic Life of Walter Murray Gibson.

Honolulu: UH Press 1986.

Adler, Jacob and Barret, Gwynn. The Diaries of Walter Murray Gibson 1886-1887.

Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press, 1973.

Beck, Raymond Clyde. “Palawai Basin: Hawaii’s Mormon Zion.” M.A. Thesis,

University of Hawaii, 1972.

Britsch, Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986.

Cannon, George Q. My First Mission. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882.

Cannon. Letter. Millennial Star, 14 (October 26, 1852), 555.

Dean, Joseph. “Sketches from the Samoan Islands.” Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 24, No.

2, 11, and 13, 1889.

Harris, R. Carl. Building the Kingdom in Samoa. Heber City, Utah: Harris Video Cases,

Inc., 2006.

Harris, R. Carl. Apia Samoa Mission History1888-1983. Apia: Samoa Print and

Publishing Co, 1983.

Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson. Deseret News Press, 1938.

Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church. Deseret News Pub. Co., 1941.

73

Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 4. Salt Lake City: A.

Jenson History Co., 1901-36.

Meleisea, Malama. Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa. Suva: University of the

South Pacific Press, 1987.

Nebeker, George. “Correspondence,” Deseret News, Vol. 21 No. 34 (25 September,

1872), 10.

Osorio, Jonathan. Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887.

Honolulu: UH Press, 2002.

Wood, Edward. “My Samoan Experience,” Juvenile Instructor Vol. 28 No. 7 (1 April

1893), 9-11.

Unpublished Material

Gibson Name File, Church Historians Office, Salt Lake City.

Gibson Diary, Hawaii State Archives.

Hart, Jenny, John W. Hart and R. Carl Harris. The Expanded Samoan Mission History 1888-

1988, Centennial Edition, (June 1988). Joseph F. Smith Library, Pacific Islands Room, BYU-

Hawaii.

www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp,

accessed 21 February 2006.